I just received a new Fire TV cube gen 3, because my old one is malfunctioning. I know, I hate these devices myself, but it’s the only option right now, since a new version of the Nvidia shield isn’t coming in the foreseeable future.

So, I plugged in the power chord and the HDMI cable into the cube.

When it booted up it showed a screen that it’s downloading the newest update. At first I thought this must be some typo-bug on the initial boot steps, because I haven’t even connected it to the internet yet, neither via cable nor did I go through the wifi setup.

After the update has finished, I was greeted with my real name and the cube indeed had the actual WiFi settings!

WTF?! How’s that even possible?

  • darkmatternoodlecow@programming.dev
    111·
    9 months ago

    It’s not the “only option”, not by a mile. It’s just convenient for you to say that it is so you don’t feel so bad about giving money to the worst of the evil megacorps.

    • adONis@lemmy.worldOP
      11·
      9 months ago

      alright, what’s a 4k hdr alternative then, that supports hdr and dolby vision?

      • PowerCrazyEnglish
        3·
        9 months ago

        I’ve been using an intel NUC for like 5 years now. It does 4k no problem.

        • adONis@lemmy.worldOP
          16·
          9 months ago

          yeah, but does it do HDR? I suppose not.

          I would love to use my own setup of hardware/software, but it’s simply not possible without making sacrifices

          • PowerCrazyEnglish
            5·
            9 months ago

            Anything that supports HDMI 2.0 or Display Port 1.4 can do HDR. My intel nuc does hdmi 2.0, that was why I bought it. So yes, it does. Stop being a naive consumerist and learn what you are actually consuming.

            • adONis@lemmy.worldOP
              1·
              9 months ago

              https://r-htpc.github.io/wiki/faq#what-is-hdr-video-and-what-do-i-need-to-take-advantage-of-it

              DOLBY VISION AND HDR10+ MEDIA PASSTHROUGH IS NOT SUPPORTED ON HTPCS; If you need support for these, you’ll need a media device/non-PC, like a Nvidia Shield, Fire TV, Dune HD, etc…

              I did learn a lot about my consumption, and believe me when I say, that I wish my options were broader. But it is how it is. And most of the content I watch is in HDR10+ or DV.

              But yeah, everyone’s milage may vary.

              • PowerCrazyEnglish
                1·
                9 months ago

                Media passthrough isn’t the same as streaming from the HTPC. IF you look directly above the quote above.

                For a HTPC, this means HDR support must be in the video, GPU, video interface (HDMI/DP) and ultimately your output device (typically a TV). HDR10 is supported on HTPCs under Windows, macOS Catalina, Android and (usually) libreelec/coreelec operating systems. Linux is NOT supported.

                So you if you have a HDR10+ source on your IntelNUC, or whatever, you can play that over HDMI 2.0 to a compatible TV without an issue.

                • adONis@lemmy.worldOP
                  1·
                  9 months ago

                  yes, playback might work, but it will fall back to HDR10 or even SDR, since not all metadata is passed through.

                  So to fully take advantage of hdr10+, dolby vision, 5.1, atmos, and what not… each device in the chain, from the source to the output, and the hdmi cable, have to fully support it.